You are here

We Want Mo

We Want Mo
by Gary Woods

The other day I was sitting at breakfast with a gentleman who whipped out his iPhone and said "watch me turn on the lights and fountain at my house." What he had was a free App from the App Store called WeMo from Belkin. The App was able to connect to switches he had placed around his home that connected to his Wireless Network and responded to commands from an Apple iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad running iOS v5 or higher.

I found the switches for $42.91 on Amazon available with free shipping and people were using them to control things like a Dropcam HD WiFi Wireless Video Monitoring Camera, a Nest Learning Thermostat, a Belkin WeMo Baby Monitor and a Netatmo NWS01-US Weather Station.

Basically you could run anything that plugs into the wall by plugging it into one of the WeMo switches. I found one review that said the user set it up so that he left his computer off while he was gone, which is a good idea. But, if there was some reason he needed to turn it on to access files using GoToMyPC or LogMeIn all he had to do was hit the switch. Then, when he was done he could power down the computer and turn off the switch.

The thread that ran through the reviews that I read all talked about how easy it was to set up and get running. So, if you'd like to have that fresh brewed cup of coffee waiting for you when you get home from a trip check out the Belkin WeMo and phone it in from the airport.